Allen, I’ll be there with my basket of rotten tomatos! Glad to share!
David

Well,

It looks like Canadian clearance is winning out over ADA.  

Del is staying home to work on it due to motivation by guess who?

But those who haven’t met Janie DeMatteo–MDT’s Business Manager–really should go by the booth and say hello.  She’s managing the booth along with Rusty.:):)

If MDT makes more sales that usual, Del is staying home for good and Janie’s on the road from then on………..

Bob

David: was it confrontational with disagreements from the audience or was it a passive affair with alot of non laser users smiling because someone kept telling them that lasers werent needed.

Was there a balance in there or not.

I wonder if it galls Dr. Dederich after his lecture to walk down to the Biolase booth and see all the activity after he tells people that lasers arent needed. It is disappointing to hear of negativity with lasers, but in many instances the people involved in spreading the information have not used lasers at all.

It is human nature to fear change. Its far more comfortable and safe to stay status quo, but there are benefits of lasers in many areas. Its not a replacement for the handpiece or the scalpel but a nice tool to have in the toolbox.

Here hoping that someone else will discuss what he said.

Inquiring minds want to know.

Glenn

Hey Glenn,
Missed you in Orlando.
My review of
Laser in Dentistry:An Update
Douglas Dederich DDS
Head of the Dept of Perio
LSU School of Dentistry
Perio trained at U of Pittsburgh
Had a private practice in Iowa 6 years
Uses a CO2 laser in his perio practice
He spoke for an hour, no interaction or questions from the quarter filled room.
He was on a platform, behind a podium, well away from the crowd. Just kept talking.
It was a lasers is bad lecture, with the speaker as the authority. “I have used lasers since the early 90s.”
He showed a couple of his cases, all the gingiva was black and crispy, but that was good. After the burn heals the gingiva heals. Luckily the CO2 damages enough of the nerve endings, so by the time the nerves start to work again at 7-9 days, epithelium is growing back to cover the wound. Therefore no pain during healing.
There is no CDT code for currettage anymore, therefore currettage should not be done, Therefore Laser currettage is ineffective.
In California a dental hygienist said she can treat gingivitis with a Diode laser in 8-10 treatments, in Lousianna we can treat gingivitis with a prophy cup and tell the patient to brush and floss.
Nd:YAG is bad. Deep tissue penetration complicates safety issues w/ respect to collateral damage.
LANAP has shown histologic evidence of new cementum.
But no studies show that LANAP regeneration has been superior to a long junctional epithelial attachment with respect to clinical performance.
Hypothesis of how LANAP works, The Nd:YAG wide pulse width causes heat, this leads to bone necrosis, the marrow cells come back in a couple of months, this stimulates growth hormones, which grows new bone.
Is it better than a long junctional epithelial repair?
LANAP is not a curretage procedure.
Need a large clinical study.
Next hour Harvey Wigdor DDS
Clinical Prof/ U of Ill.
CO2 user, more burned and crispy cases
His best quote was that you should not be the first one in your neighborhood to buy a laser.
Reason for purchasing a laser
1. Hard or soft tissue use
2.Based on scientific evidence that it is safe for the indications used by practioners
3. Will be used on a regular basis
4.Do not purchase a laser without indication, the cost cannot be justified.
The crowd could not get out fast enough.
Was an embarrasment for the ADA. BioLase plugged the lecture on all their session literature as a real laser lecture, what a mistake that was.
I tried to buy a tape, but the filming company didn’t film it,said the ADA did not tell them of the course.
Sorry you missed it.
Jeff